"CHIRP..." Shan Bao stood to the side with a starstruck expression, making a sound of pure adoration.
"HSSS~" Yu Bao raised his head proudly.
’I think I get how big bro Xiaoyue feels now! It really is awesome!’
’No, Xiaoyue probably doesn’t see it that way...’ Su Zhi mused inwardly as he crouched down. "How’s the progress on learning the new skill?"
"Woof!"
Yu Bao nodded and snapped his fingers, though it didn’t actually make a sound.
Immediately after, countless fist-sized red Light Arrays materialized around Yu Bao, aiming at the pine tree on the lawn.
"WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!"
A thousand fires bloomed at once, like fireworks set off on the ground. The pine tree was instantly adorned with dancing flames, resembling the intricate and dazzling lanterns of the Lantern Festival.
Then, a gust of wind and sand surged past, extinguishing the fire.
Yu Bao looked at Su Zhi, an expression on his face that clearly begged for praise.
"Not bad!" Su Zhi said, satisfied, as he ruffled the little guy’s head.
Yu Bao had just been practicing the Fireball Technique, a Low Level Extraordinary Fire Element Skill. It was one of the most basic Fire Element Skills, so much so that Yu Bao had mastered it to Tier Two in just two days, able to cast it from multiple angles.
Although the Fireball Technique wasn’t viable in mid-to-high-tier arenas, many Fire Element Skills were derived from it. It was the foundation for everything else.
Having learned the Fireball Technique, learning other related Fire Element Skills in the future would be much easier.
On the other hand, because of its simplicity, the Fireball Technique offered more flexibility than some High Level Skills, allowing for greater creativity.
As for what specific tricks could be pulled off, Su Zhi left that to Yu Bao’s imagination.
He should have started learning the Fireball Technique right after evolving, but Yu Bao had been more interested in the Giant Fire Pillar at the time, so Su Zhi had let him learn that first.
"Keep it up, Yu Bao!"
Su Zhi showed Yu Bao his chat history with Shao Ya and chuckled. "Xiaoyue is already getting impatient. This afternoon’s battle won’t be easy."
"Woof."
Yu Bao waved his paw with a look of complete confidence, as if to say it was no problem.
’Su Zhi, on the other hand, needs to get a clue. This is such a great opportunity; he shouldn’t be such a block of wood.’
Su Zhi froze. "Say that again!"
"Hsss."
’Look, he’s triggered!’
Yu Bao gave a cheeky grin, spun around, and bolted.
Shan Bao instinctively fled with him, only realizing after a moment that it had nothing to do with her... But since she was already running, she didn’t stop and just kept going.
Su Zhi smiled as he watched the two little ones dash toward the garage. He looked down at the Huajing Cat avatar on his phone screen and clenched his fist.
·
At two in the afternoon, Su Zhi sat cross-legged on his bed, in Meditation.
This Meditation session went smoothly; he was already advancing toward Tier Four.
When he could no longer concentrate, Su Zhi let out a long breath and opened his eyes.
"Woof." Yu Bao wagged his tail, looking at him with some concern.
Ever since returning from the Ancient Jing Forest, it was like Su Zhi was a different person. He had doubled his grind, as if he were desperately striving for something very important.
Su Zhi chuckled. "Isn’t it only natural for a Beast Tamer to work hard to get stronger?"
Yu Bao shook his head. It wasn’t that kind of feeling.
But he couldn’t put a paw on what it was exactly, because he was just a little dog...
"Woof!"
’But don’t put too much pressure on yourself.’
’We’ll work hard together with you!’
’You just don’t want to see someone who grinds harder than you, do you...’ A smile touched Su Zhi’s eyes as he ruffled Yu Bao’s head.
At two-thirty, the boy and his Pet Beast left the house to meet the girl for their promised battle.
’Huh? Why didn’t she try to scare me today?’
As he left the building entrance, Su Zhi looked left and right in curiosity, until he smelled a faint fragrance from above.
A gentle breeze rustled by, carrying down a strand or two of bright white hair.
The boy raised his head, and his gaze met the girl’s.
She was wearing a form-fitting white t-shirt that went well with her denim hot pants. The white high-top canvas shoes made her legs look even fairer and more slender.
At that moment, the girl was hanging upside down from a vine above the building entrance. Combined with her outfit, it gave off a unique, tropical vibe.
The girl gave a mischievous wink, let go of the vine, and dropped.
"WOOHOO!"
"Whoa!"
Su Zhi instinctively reached out and caught her securely in his arms.
"Finally scared Su Baby today~!"
"You suddenly dropping down is what really scared me!"
Su Zhi scrunched up his nose in annoyance. "You were even headfirst. What if you’d fallen and hurt yourself?"
"I’d just break my fall with my hands. A Beast Tamer isn’t so weak they can’t even do that."
"That... kind of makes sense..."
Su Zhi agreed instinctively, then immediately shook his head and put on a serious face again. "It’s still dangerous!"
"Besides, Xiaoyue was watching over me the whole time."
"Meow."
"Hmm..." Su Zhi didn’t know how to respond. Xiaoyue was indeed quite reliable.
"Does Su Baby have any other questions?" The girl tilted her head, smoothly draping her arms around his neck.
Su Zhi shuddered, only now remembering he was still holding her. The feeling of the girl’s waist and thighs in his hands suddenly became exceptionally clear...
Su Zhi’s face burned, and he hastily set her on her feet.
"Oh? Why are you bent over, Su Baby?"
"It’s, it’s nothing..."
"Are you not feeling well? Should I give you a check-up?"
"I said it’s nothing! Let’s go! I’m going to crush you right now!"
"Pfft~"
·
At the Huai City Municipal Battle Hall, the owner, Yan Dingyi, greeted the pair and even gave them free ice cream.
The Battle Hall was quite crowded during the summer vacation, but thanks to his priority as an Alliance Youth Team Member, Su Zhi managed to secure an arena whose reservation was for a later time.
This usually meant the person who booked it had agreed to a flexible use policy, so they just had to finish before the original party arrived.
"Both of your Pet Beasts have evolved?"
Yan Dingyi gave them a thumbs-up, feeling a bit emotional. "Nice, a reciprocal effort!"
Shao Ya: "Thank you for the compliment, Uncle Yan~"
Su Zhi: "..."
’Redefining "reciprocal effort."’
"Hsss."
Yu Bao wagged his tail at Xiaoyue. ’Speaking of which, Big Bro smells so good after evolving. I can smell a floral scent even from this far away... Hmm, just a casual observation, nothing more to it.’
Shan Bao’s head swiveled, looking from Yu Bao to Xiaoyue and back, as if she had discovered something incredible.
’What was that phrase again...’
’Right, reciprocal effort!’
Of course, Xiaoyue wasn’t here today for any "reciprocal effort" with Yu Bao.
As the Big Bro, he was here to re-establish the hierarchy and teach Yu Bao a lesson about how to act like a grown-up!
The arena activated, and the outer Energy Barrier began to form.
Xiaoyue looked at Yu Bao on the other side, its gaze turning ice-cold and hard.
The period after Yu Bao evolved but before he himself had evolved was a time of utter chaos and impropriety; his dignity as the big bro had been completely shattered.
A magnificent, elegant, and noble Huajing Cat, being nuzzled whenever a clumsy little dog felt like it, petted whenever it felt like it, licked whenever it felt like it, sniffed whenever it felt like it, and... well, whatever else it felt like doing.
’My foolish little brother, this ends now!’
"DING—"
The match light turned from blue to green, sounding the signal to begin.
Xiaoyue’s light green pupils suddenly brightened, and countless green Light Arrays instantly materialized around it.
Immediately after, innumerable thick, giant vines surged out like the furious tentacles of a deep-sea squid, crushing down on Yu Bao with overwhelming force.
The Shadow of Ancient Jing’s Racial Skill, Deep Forest Grip!
"WHOOSH!"
Yu Bao responded calmly. A pale yellow Light Array lit up, and one Yellow Earth Wall 2.0 after another shot up to form a backward-sloping barrier.
The tide of giant vines failed to crush the Yellow Earth Wall and was deflected upward along its slope.
The random passersby having casual matches in the nearby arenas all gawked. After scanning with their phones, they were left utterly dumbfounded.
[Pet Beast: Xiaoyue (Shadow of Ancient Jing)
Attribute: Wood Element
Race: High Level Elite
Real-time Energy Value: 3968]
...
[Pet Beast: Yu Bao (Yu Dian Farm Dog)
Attributes: Earth Element, Fire Element
Race: Middle Elite
Real-time Energy Value: 3990]
These were two One-star... no, Quasi-Two-star Pet Beasts!
And looking at their two Beast Tamers, they didn’t seem old either—high schoolers, maybe college students at most??
’F*ck, they have Quasi-Two-star Pet Beasts before they’re even in college? What kind of damn powerhouses are these?’
’And why is that Yu Dian Dog’s skill so weird... Is that the Yellow Earth Wall? Why is it so sturdy...?’
In just a few seconds, the resolve of several people shattered.
’Are we even taming the same kind of beasts!?’
·
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